Ashok Gehlot's Ex-Aide Blames Him For Phone Tapping During 2020 Crisis

In a development that could land former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot in trouble, his ex-officer on special duty (OSD) Lokesh Sharma has held him responsible for phone tapping during the political crisis in the state in 2020.

He said Mr Gehlot should be interrogated in this regard.

Delhi Police questioned Mr Sharma on Wednesday in connection with the phone-tapping case lodged on a complaint by Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat.

After the questioning, Mr Sharma said he submitted a seven-page written statement, describing the sequence of events on July 16, 2020, when he got a pen drive containing call recordings from the then chief minister for circulating to the media.

He said Mr Gehlot could tell how he got the call recordings and whether the call interceptions were done legally or not.

Mr Sharma's claim this time has marked a shift from his previous stand that he had got three audio clips from social media and forwarded those to media houses.

Mr Sharma was called for questioning at Delhi Police's Crime Branch office at Rohini. He reached there around 11 am, officials said.

Mr Sharma, in April this year, had publicly alleged that an audio clip of a purported telephonic conversation between Mr Shekhawat and some Congress leaders on "toppling" the then Congress government in Rajasthan in 2020 was given to him by the former chief minister himself.

Today, he mentioned this in the written statement.

"I have stated that the then chief minister had called me at the chief minister's residence and gave me a pen drive. He directed me to circulate the content of the pen drive to newspapers.

"I went home, transferred the files from the pen drive to my laptop and from laptop to my phone, then circulated them to media houses as directed," he told PTI.

He said the crime branch should now summon Ashok Gehlot for questioning to know the rest of the details.

"The next course of investigation should involve Ashok Gehlot," he said.

Mr Sharma said that he was not involved in the call interceptions.

"It was done on the directions of the then chief minister. Now he can disclose further details, how the interception was done, and whether it was legal or illegal," he said.

Mr Sharma claimed that phones of several Congress MLAs, from both camps of Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot, were intercepted at the directions of the chief minister during the political crisis and he used to get a transcription of each call.

He said the then chief secretary, DGP, home secretary and principal secretary to the chief minister were all aware of the developments related to phone tapping.

The phone-tapping controversy erupted in July 2020 during a political crisis when the Congress was in power in Rajasthan.

The crisis was the result of a rebellion by the then deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot and 18 other Congress leaders against the leadership of Mr Gehlot.

During the crisis, clips of alleged telephonic conversations between Mr Shekhawat and Congress leaders surfaced, following which Mr Gehlot had alleged that Mr Shekhawat was behind the attempted toppling of his government.

Mr Sharma had circulated the clips purportedly containing conversations about the plan. 

In March 2021, Delhi Police registered an FIR against Mr Sharma on charges of criminal conspiracy, criminal breach of trust and unlawfully intercepting telephonic conversations on a complaint by Mr Shekhawat.

This is Mr Sharma's sixth appearance before the Crime Branch for questioning. He was last quizzed by Crime Branch officials on October 10, 2023. 

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